Murdered Irish student’s father flies to Japan and demands answers

The father of murdered student Nicola Furlong has flown to Japan to demand answers – as her devastated boyfriend spoke of his heartache.

The 21-year-old Wexford girl was murdered in Tokyo and her friend sexually assaulted two weeks ago.

Two Americans are still in custody in the Japanese capital on suspicion of the murder and the attack with Nicola’s dad on his way to meet police and demand answers.

Boyfriend Danny Furlong, a 22-year-old footballer with the Wexford Youths side, told the Irish Independent newspaper that Nicola’s homecoming next month should have been the ‘happiest day of our lives’.

He said: “I always said that the day she was home would have been the happiest day of both of our lives.

“To be honest it’s been by far the worst two weeks of my life. It has turned my whole world upside down.”

Dad Andrew will spend four days in Tokyo as the family seek answers from Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police.

Boyfriend Danny added: “To me she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and I was so lucky to be with her.

“I remember she wrote to me just before she went to Nicki Minaj and she said that she loved me and that when she got back to her apartment she would write to me.

“I didn’t sleep at all that night. I just kept checking my phone to see if there was a text from her. The next thing I remember was my door opening and my mam shouting at me. She sat on my bed. I told her to tell me what was wrong.

“For the first few hours I was in bits. I was crying and I had to ring someone. I had to ask was she actually gone.

“Even about four or five hours later I remember ringing Nicola’s mam and I said, ‘She isn’t actually gone, is she?’ She was my whole world - and it ended.

“We planned first of all to go on holiday when she got back. One of her best friends was going to Italy in September and we wanted to visit her.”

Danny joked: “Her life plan was that I was going to be a famous footballer and she would be the ‘WAG’.

“To be honest I haven’t even thought about tomorrow. It’s tough enough just waking up and the thought of another long day, let alone thinking about the future.”

Nicola's father Andrew will be accompanied by a family member on his trip to Japan.

“We are going to write a list of questions that we need answered; I may be wrong but I have a funny feeling that we won’t be given many answers,” the family member who is accompanying him told the Irish Independent.

The paper reports that two Americans - James Blackston (23) and an unnamed 19-year-old musician - have already been charged with assaulting a friend of Ms Furlong.